# 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2023 WJHC) was the 47th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, held from 26 December 2022 to 5 January 2023. It was won by Canada, in overtime of the gold-medal game. Czechia won the silver, their first medal since 2005.

## Background

The relegation round was revived, after a two-year hiatus due to the 2021 Division I, II, and III tournaments having been cancelled, and in 2022, both Russia and Belarus were expelled from the competition.

## Top Division
### Venues

Originally, Novosibirsk and Omsk in Russia were selected as host cities, however Russia's hosting rights were revoked in February 2022 due to Russian invasion of Ukraine. Instead, hosting rights were given to Halifax and Moncton in Canada. This was the 18th time Canada hosted the competition, and the third consecutive tournament held on Canada's soil.
On May 23, 2018, the IIHF announced Novosibirsk, Russia, as host city. Novosibirsk was to host Group A matches, while the city of Omsk was to host Group B matches.
In February 2022, in condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for Russia to be stripped of hosting rights to all international sporting events. Russia's hosting of the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was scheduled to be discussed in a meeting of the IIHF council on February 28, 2022. The IIHF suspended Russia and Belarus from international ice hockey until further notice, and stripped Russia of its hosting rights for the World Junior Championships.
In late-March 2022, Sportsnet journalist Jeff Marek reported that the IIHF had considered Canada as a possible host country for the tournament, which would make it the third consecutive World Junior Championship to be hosted in the country (the previous two tournaments have been hosted in Alberta with Edmonton as the main host city, but were held in a "bubble" behind closed doors and postponed to August 2022 respectively due to the COVID-19 pandemic). On May 5, the IIHF and Hockey Canada announced that Halifax and Moncton would be the hosts of the tournament, beating out announced bids by Regina/Saskatoon, Ottawa/Quebec City, and London/Waterloo. It marks the 20th anniversary of Halifax's previous hosting of the tournament in 2003.
| Halifax | HalifaxMoncton | HalifaxMoncton | Moncton |
| Scotiabank Centre Capacity: 10,595 | HalifaxMoncton | HalifaxMoncton | Avenir Centre Capacity: 8,800 |

### Match officials

The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2023 World Junior Championships.
Referees
* Michael Campbell
* Graeden Hamilton
* Andreas Harnebring
* Tomáš Hronský
* Marc Iwert
* Richard Magnusson
* Mathieu Menniti
* Anssi Salonen
* Peter Schlittenhardt
* Jakub Šindel
* Michaël Tscherrig
* Riley Yerkovich
Linesmen
* Dario Fuchs
* Clément Goncalves
* Brandon Grillo
* Onni Hautamäki
* David Klouček
* Spencer Knox
* Daniel Konc
* Patrick Laguzov
* Daniel Persson
* John Waleski
* Tarrington Wyonzek

### Preliminary round
#### Seeding

The groups were announced on August 17, 2022, with teams being grouped based on rankings of performance over the previous five tournaments.

##### Group A (Scotiabank Centre)

* Canada
* Sweden
* Czechia
* Germany
* Austria

##### Group B (Avenir Centre)

* United States
* Finland
* Switzerland
* Slovakia
* Latvia

#### Group A

Isak Rosén began the scoring in Group A as Sweden defeated Austria 11–0, with 6 of their goals coming in the second period. Canada lost 5–2 to Czechia in their biggest World Juniors loss since 2020 when they lost 6–0 to Russia. Adam Engström of Sweden scored the lone goal in a tight match to beat Germany 1–0. Austria went scoreless once again against Czechia, recording only 8 shots in a 9–0 defeat. Canada regained their form as they defeated Germany in a convincing 11–2 victory, with Connor Bedard earning 7 points, tying a Canadian World Juniors record. Despite Czechia scoring early in the game, goals from Fabian Wagner and Ludvig Jansson gave the lead to the Swedes. Jiří Ticháček scored an equalizer in the 54th minute, taking the match to overtime. Ludvig Jansson got the winner in the second minute of overtime, earning his second goal of the match. Canada defeated Austria 11–0, with Connor Bedard having 6 points and Austria remaining scoreless after 3 matches. Canada dominated the game with 47 shots, while Austria could only manage 12. Germany defeated Austria 4–2, and despite Austria scoring their first goals of the tournament, they were consequently eliminated to the relegation round. Germany advanced to the quarter-finals for the third consecutive time. Czechia beat Germany in a decisive 8–1 victory, earning Czechia a total of 10 points in the group and winning them Group A. Canada defeated Sweden 6–1, passing Sweden in the standings and finishing second in the group, behind Czechia.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Czechia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 6 | +18 | 10 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Canada (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 8 | +21 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 8 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Germany | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 3 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Austria | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 35 | −33 | 0 | Relegation playoff |

#### Group B

Finland and Switzerland began the tournament tied by the end of the third period, sending the match to overtime. Attilio Biasca scored a long-range goal to give Switzerland 2 points. Despite being tied for most of the match, the United States put 3 goals past Latvian Patriks Bērziņš in the third period, winning the match 5–2. Slovakia lost 5–2 to Finland in their first game of the tournament, despite having more shots than the Finns. Finland scored 3 goals in the second period alone. Rodwin Dionicio scored in the 58th minute to send Switzerland to their second consecutive overtime against Latvia. They failed to convert a chance, however, and the match went to a shootout. Liekit Reichle won the match for the Swiss after getting one past the Latvian goaltender. Slovakia defeated the United States 6–3 after Alex Čiernik scored a late goal, taking advantage of the U.S.'s open net. Finland scored 3 against Latvia in regulation time, while the Finnish goaltender, Jani Lampinen, kept a 31-save shutout. The United States recovered from their disappointing loss after beating Switzerland 5–1, with Jimmy Snuggerud scoring two. Slovakia defeated Latvia 3–0, sending Slovakia to the quarter-finals and sending Latvia to the relegation round. By the end of regulation time, Switzerland and Slovakia tied at a score of 3–3. Despite Switzerland winning another shootout, their placement was not affected, and finished 4th place in the group. Both teams qualified for the quarter-finals. The United States won the group after defeating Finland 6–2. Although they lost the match, Finland still finished above Slovakia due to their head-to-head result.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Finland | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 7 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Slovakia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 7 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Latvia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 1 | Relegation playoff |
* 1 2 Finland 5–2 Slovakia

### Relegation

Note: Austria was relegated to the 2024 Division I A.

### Playoff round

Teams that won their quarterfinal match were reseeded for the semi-finals in accordance with the following ranking system:
* Higher position in their respective group
* Greater number of points
* Better goal differential (GD)
* Greater number of goals scored (GF)
* Higher seeding coming into the tournament (As determined by their final placement at the 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships).
| Rank | Team | Group | Pos | Pts | GD | GF | Seed |
| 1 | Czechia | A | 1 | 10 | +18 | 24 | 4 |
| 2 | United States | B | 1 | 9 | +8 | 19 | 5 |
| 3 | Canada | A | 2 | 9 | +21 | 29 | 1 |
| 4 | Finland | B | 2 | 7 | +1 | 12 | 2 |
| 5 | Sweden | A | 3 | 8 | +9 | 16 | 3 |
| 6 | Slovakia | B | 3 | 7 | +2 | 14 | 9 |
| 7 | Switzerland | B | 4 | 6 | –1 | 11 | 8 |
| 8 | Germany | A | 4 | 3 | –15 | 7 | 6 |

#### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 2 January – Scotiabank Centre | 2 January – Scotiabank Centre | | | |
| 1A Czechia | 9 | | | |
| 1A Czechia | 9 | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | | |
| 4B Switzerland | 1 | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | |
| 4B Switzerland | 1 | 1 Czechia (OT) | 2 | |
| 2 January – Avenir Centre | 2 January – Avenir Centre | | 1 Czechia (OT) | 2 | |
| 2 January – Avenir Centre | 2 January – Avenir Centre | 5 Sweden | 1 | |
| 2B Finland | 2 | 5 Sweden | 1 | |
| 2B Finland | 2 | | | | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre |
| 3A Sweden | 3 | | | | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre |
| 3A Sweden | 3 | | | | 1 Czechia | 2 |
| 2 January – Avenir Centre | 2 January – Avenir Centre | | | | | 1 Czechia | 2 |
| 2 January – Avenir Centre | 2 January – Avenir Centre | | | | 3 Canada (OT) | 3 |
| 1B United States | 11 | | | | 3 Canada (OT) | 3 |
| 1B United States | 11 | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | | | |
| 4A Germany | 1 | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | 4 January – Scotiabank Centre | | | |
| 4A Germany | 1 | 2 United States | 2 | | | |
| 2 January – Scotiabank Centre | 2 January – Scotiabank Centre | | 2 United States | 2 | | | |
| 2 January – Scotiabank Centre | 2 January – Scotiabank Centre | 3 Canada | 6 | | Third place | Third place |
| 2A Canada (OT) | 4 | 3 Canada | 6 | | Third place | Third place |
| 2A Canada (OT) | 4 | | | | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre |
| 3B Slovakia | 3 | | | | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre | 5 January – Scotiabank Centre |
| 3B Slovakia | 3 | | | | 2 United States (OT) | 8 |
| | | | | | 5 Sweden | 7 |

#### Quarterfinals

Oliver Kapanen scored early against Sweden to give the lead to Finland, with Leo Carlsson levelling the scores by the second period. Despite Niko Huuhtanen once again putting the Finns ahead, Carlsson and Victor Stjernborg both scored for the Swedes to complete the comeback and win the match 3–2. Top seed Czechia defeated Switzerland 9–1, scoring 4 goals in the second period. They advanced to their first semi-finals since 2022. The United States put 11 past Nikita Quapp and Rihards Babulis in a convincing 11–1 victory, with Logan Cooley earning a hat-trick. A back-and-forth match between Canada and Slovakia saw both teams with 3 goals by the end of regulation, sending the match to overtime. Connor Bedard scored the winner in the 65th minute after weaving his way past multiple Slovak defenders. This marked his 3rd point of the match and his 21st of the tournament, maintaining his World Juniors record.

#### Semifinals

In their second meeting in the tournament, Czechia advanced to their first final since 2001 after defeating Sweden 2–1. Ludvig Jansson scored first for Sweden, but David Jiříček equalized with less than a minute of regulation time. In the last minute of overtime, just as the match was about to go to a shootout, Jiří Kulich scored to send Czechia to the final. Canada made a statement against rivals United States by beating them 6–2, sending Canada to their 4th consecutive World Juniors final. Despite United States leading 2–0 after 10 minutes, Canada soon found their form and scored 6 past the Americans.

#### Bronze medal game

The United States defeated Sweden in an 8–7 thriller, the most goals in a single World Juniors match since an 18-goal match between Canada and Germany in 2021. Chaz Lucius scored a hat-trick after a deflection off Swedish goaltender Carl Lindbom found its way to Lucius, who slotted it in the side netting to score the winning goal in overtime.

#### Gold medal game

Canada lead 1–0 in the first period and managed a 2–0 lead in the second. Czechia would tie the game in the third period, sending the match into overtime. Dylan Guenther would score the overtime winner to earn the 20th gold medal for Canada.

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Connor Bedard | Canada | 7 | 9 | 14 | 23 | +14 | 2 |
| 2 | Logan Cooley | United States | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +3 | 2 |
| 3 | Jimmy Snuggerud | United States | 7 | 5 | 8 | 13 | +5 | 2 |
| 4 | Joshua Roy | Canada | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +14 | 0 |
| 5 | Logan Stankoven | Canada | 7 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +12 | 0 |
| 6 | Dylan Guenther | Canada | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | –1 | 4 |
| 7 | Filip Bystedt | Sweden | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +8 | 4 |
| 7 | Cutter Gauthier | United States | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +4 | 2 |
| 7 | Ludvig Jansson | Sweden | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +9 | 4 |
| 10 | Ryan Ufko | United States | 7 | 1 | 9 | 10 | +3 | 2 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
| Pos | Player | Country | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| 1 | Adam Gajan | Slovakia | 250:15 | 10 | 2.40 | 156 | 93.59 | 1 |
| 2 | Tomáš Suchánek | Czechia | 435:13 | 11 | 1.52 | 167 | 93.41 | 1 |
| 3 | Jani Lampinen | Finland | 179:00 | 5 | 1.68 | 75 | 93.33 | 1 |
| 4 | Thomas Milic | Canada | 340:01 | 10 | 1.76 | 147 | 93.20 | 0 |
| 5 | Carl Lindbom | Sweden | 439:42 | 19 | 2.59 | 222 | 91.44 | 2 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF.com

### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goaltender: Adam Gajan
** Best Defenceman: David Jiříček
** Best Forward: Connor Bedard
Source: IIHF
* Media All-Stars:
** MVP: Connor Bedard
** Goaltender: Tomáš Suchánek
** Defencemen: David Jiříček / Ludvig Jansson
** Forwards: Logan Cooley / Jiří Kulich / Connor Bedard
Source: IIHF

### Final standings

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | A | Canada (H) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 15 | +27 | 16 | Champions |
| 2 | A | Czechia | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 11 | +26 | 16 | Runners-up |
| 3 | B | United States | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 14 | Third place |
| 4 | A | Sweden | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 13 | Fourth place |
| 5 | B | Finland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 7 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | B | Slovakia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 8 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 7 | B | Switzerland | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 6 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 8 | A | Germany | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 33 | −25 | 3 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 9 | B | Latvia | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 18 | −5 | 7 | Avoided relegation |
| 10 | A | Austria | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 44 | −38 | 0 | Relegated to the 2024 Division I A |

## Division I
### Group A

The Division I Group A tournament was played in Asker, Norway, from December 11 to 17, 2022.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Norway (H) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 15 | Promoted to the 2024 Top Division |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 9 | |
| 3 | France | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | Denmark | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 19 | −10 | 5 | |
| 6 | Slovenia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 3 | Relegated to the 2024 Division I B |

### Group B

The Division I Group B tournament was played in Bytom, Poland, from December 11 to 17, 2022.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Japan | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 13 | Promoted to the 2024 Division I A |
| 2 | Ukraine | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 12 | +11 | 12 | |
| 3 | Italy | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 8 | |
| 4 | Poland (H) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 5 | |
| 5 | Estonia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 4 | |
| 6 | South Korea | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 30 | −18 | 3 | Relegated to the 2024 Division II A |

## Division II
### Group A

The Division II Group A tournament was played in Kaunas, Lithuania, from December 11 to 17, 2022.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 17 | +8 | 12 | Promoted to the 2024 Division I B |
| 2 | Great Britain | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 11 | +16 | 12 | |
| 3 | Lithuania (H) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 10 | |
| 4 | Spain | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Netherlands | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 21 | −10 | 5 | |
| 6 | Romania | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 29 | −18 | 0 | Relegated to the 2024 Division II B |
* 1 2 Great Britain 4–7 Croatia

### Group B

The Division II Group B tournament was played in Reykjavík, Iceland, from January 16 to 22, 2023.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | China | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 9 | +20 | 14 | Promoted to the 2024 Division II A |
| 2 | Belgium | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 13 | |
| 3 | Serbia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 9 | |
| 4 | Iceland (H) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 6 | |
| 5 | Chinese Taipei | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 29 | −12 | 3 | |
| 6 | Mexico | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 32 | −25 | 0 | Relegated to the 2024 Division III |

## Division III

The Division III tournament was played in Istanbul, Turkey, from January 26 to February 2, 2023. After the Preliminary round, all teams advanced to the Quarterfinals.

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 30 January | 30 January | | | |
| A1 Australia | 28 | | | |
| A1 Australia | 28 | 1 February | 1 February | | |
| B4 South Africa | 0 | 1 February | 1 February | |
| B4 South Africa | 0 | 1 Israel | 6 | |
| 30 January | 30 January | | 1 Israel | 6 | |
| 30 January | 30 January | 5 Turkey | 4 | |
| B1 Israel | 10 | 5 Turkey | 4 | |
| B1 Israel | 10 | | | | 2 February | 2 February |
| A4 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | | | | 2 February | 2 February |
| A4 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | | | | 1 Israel | 1 |
| 30 January | 30 January | | | | | 1 Israel | 1 |
| 30 January | 30 January | | | | 2 Australia | 4 |
| A2 Kyrgyzstan | 1 | | | | 2 Australia | 4 |
| A2 Kyrgyzstan | 1 | 1 February | 1 February | | | |
| B3 Turkey | 3 | 1 February | 1 February | | | |
| B3 Turkey | 3 | 2 Australia | 4 | | | |
| 30 January | 30 January | | 2 Australia | 4 | | | |
| 30 January | 30 January | 3 Bulgaria | 1 | | 3rd place match | 3rd place match |
| B2 Bulgaria | 6 | 3 Bulgaria | 1 | | 3rd place match | 3rd place match |
| B2 Bulgaria | 6 | | | | 2 February | 2 February |
| A3 New Zealand | 2 | | | | 2 February | 2 February |
| A3 New Zealand | 2 | | | | 3 Bulgaria | 8 |
| | | | | | 5 Turkey | 3 |

### Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | Australia |
| | Israel |
| | Bulgaria |
| 4 | Turkey |
| 5 | New Zealand |
| 6 | Kyrgyzstan |
| 7 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 8 | South Africa |
* Promoted to the 2024 Division II B
* Relegated to the 2024 Division III B